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THE MISSISSIPPI 



AND ITS FORTY-FOUR 



NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



A DESCRIPTIVE, COMMERCIAL, AND STATISTICAL REVIEW, 
ILLUSTRATED WITH THREE DIAGRAMS. 



ALEX. D. ANDERSON, 

Author of "Mexico from the Material Stand-point." 



July 2, 1890.— Ordered to bo printed by the Uuited States Senate. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1890. 



B54- 



/I 



CONTENTS. 



MAP OF THE MISSISSIPPI AND TRIBUTARIES. 



I. Historical notes. 
II. Descriptive notes. 

Extent as a drainage system. 
Extent as commercial high-ways. 
Valley States and Territories. 
Internal supplements. 
Interocean supplements. 

III. Economical features. 
Correct location. 
Connection of opposite climates. 
Construction by nature. 
Commercial value. 

Cost of repairs. 
Commercial capacity. 
Cheap transportation. 

IV. Products of the States inter- 

sected. 
Contrast with those of the United 
States. 
V. Internal commerce of the States 

INTERSECTED. 

Estimate of its value. 
How transported. 

Increasing demand for transportation 
VI. Alluvial lands. 

Area and present condition. 
Present value. 
Future value if protected. 
Productive capacity. 



Contrast with the Netherlands. 

The question of protection. 
VII. Destructive floods. 

Floods of 1868 and 1871. 

Flood of 1874. 

Flood of 1881. 

Flood of 1882. 

Flood of 1883. 
VIII. National features. 

National in extent. 

National in law. 

National in benefits. 

National in damage. 

National in politics. 

Opinions of national statesmen. 
IX. International features. 

American countries at the South — 
diagrams of first and second cen- 
tury. 

Our foreign commerce of the first 
century. 

Our foreign commerce of the second 
century. 
Appendix. 

Act creating the Commission. 

River distances. 

List of authorities. 

List of popular publications. 

List of official documents. 




The Mississippi and Tributaries 



;| 


i 


Big Cypress and Lake, 




•i 


Red, 




s 


Dauchite, 


i! 


4 


Black, 




5 


Ouachita, 


ij 


(i 


Bartholemew, 




7 


Boeuf, 




« 


Macou, 




9 


Tensas, 




1(1 


Arkansas, 




11 


Little Eed, 




12 


White, 




13 


Current, 




14 


Black, 




In 


Cache, 




IK 


St. Francis, 




17 


Osage, 




18 


Big Horn, 




19 


Yellowstone. 




•20 


Missouri, 




ai 


Iowa, 




22 


Minnesota 




23 


Mississippi, 


i 







Heads of Navigation. 
Jefferson, Tex. . 

Slate Shoals, Tex. 
Minden Landing, La. 
Mouth of Ouachita. La. 
Camden, Ark. 
Baxter, Ark. 
Wallace's, Ark. 
Floyd, La. 
Westwood, La. 
Wichita, Kas. 
Searcv's, Ark. 
War Eagle, Mo. 
Jones Ferry, Mo. 
Per'tins, Mo. 
Gray's Ferry, Ark. 
Wittsburg, Mo. 
Papinville, 
Ft. Custer, Mon. 
Belle Butte, Mon. 
Great Falls, Mon. 
Iowa City, la. 
Patterson's Rapids, MinD 
St.Anthony 's Falls, Minn 



Rivers. 

24 St. Croix, 

25 Chippewa, 

26 Wisconsin, 

27 Rock, 

28 Illinois, 

29 Wabash, 

30 Muskingum, 

31 Ohio. 

32 Alleghany, 

33 Monougahela, 

34 Kanawha, 
85 Kentucky, 

36 Green. 

37 Cumberland, 

38 Clinch, 

89 Tennessee, 

40 Big Hatehie, 

41 Deer Creek, 

42 Sunflower, 

43 Yazoo, 

44 Tallahatchie, 

45 Big Black, 



Heads of Navit 
Dalles, Wis. 
Eau Claire, Wi< 
Portage City, "V 
Sterling, Ills. 
La Salle, Ills. 
Lafayette, Ind. 
Dresden, 0. 
Pittsburg, Pa. 
Franklin, Pa 
Morgantown. W 
Great Falls, W 
Cougar's Landi 
Greensbuig, K} 
Waitsboro', Ky 
Clinton, Tenn 
Knoxville, Teni 
Bolivar. Tcun 
Stoneville, Miss 
Clarksdale, Mis 
Greenwood, Mil 
Hill's Place, Mi: 
Bovina, Miss 



7204 face p. 5 



I.— HISTORICAL NOTES. 

In the early days of European discoveries and rivalries in the Missis- 
sippfValley its comprehensive river system played a prominent part on 
the stage of public affairs. The discovery of the river, in 1541, by De 
Soto and his Spanish troops, was about a century later followed by ex- 
plorations by the French under the lead of Marquette, Joliet, La Salle, 
and others, who entered the valley from the north. La Salle, during 
the years 1679-'83, explored the river throughout its whole length, took 
possession of the great valley in the name of France, and called it Louis- 
iana in honor of his King, Louis XIV. Then resulted grand schemes 
for developing the resources of the valley, which a French writer char- 
acterized as " the regions watered by the Mississippi, immense unknown 
virgin solitudes which the imagination filled with riches." One Crozat, 
in 1712, secured from the King a charter giving him almost imperial 
control of the commerce of the whole Mississippi Valley. There was at 
that date no Europeau rival to dispute French domination, for the 
English of New England and the other Atlantic colonies had not ex- 
tended their settlements westward across the Alleghanies, and the 
Spanish inhabitants of New Spain or Mexico had not pushed their con- 
quest farther north than New Mexico. Crozat's trading privileges cov- 
ered an area many times as large as all France, and as fertile as any on 
the face of the earth. But he was unequal to the opportunity, and, fail- 
ing in his efforts, soon surrendered the charter. 

John Law, a Scotchman, at first a gambler, and subsequently a bold, 
visionary, but brilliant financier, succeeded Crozat in the privileges of 
this grand scheme, and secured from the successor of Louis XIV a mo- 
nopoly of the trade and development of the French possessions in the 
valley. In order to carry out his wild enterprise he organized a colos- 
sal stock company, called '"The Western Company," but more gener- 
ally known in history as "The Mississippi Bubble." According to the 
historian Monette " it was vested with the exclusive privilege of the en- 
tire commerce of Louisiana and New France, and with authority to 
enforce its rights. It was authorized to monopolize the trade of all the 
colonies in the provinces, and of all the Indian tribes within the limits 
of that extensive region, even to the remotest source of every stream 
tributary in any wise to the Mississippi." So skillful and daring were 
his manipulations that he bewitched the French people with the fasci- 
nations of stock gambling. The excitement in Paris is thus described 
by Thiers : 

It was no longer the professional speculators and creditors of the Government who 
frequented the rue Quincampoix; all classes of society mingled there, cherishing the 
same illusions — noblemen famous on the field of battle, distinguished in the Govern- 
ment, churchmen, traders, quiet citizens, servants whom their suddenly acquired 
fortune had filled with the hope of rivaling their masters. * * » 

The rue Quincampoix was called the Mississippi. * * * 

The month of December was the time of the greatest infatuation. The shares ended 
by rising to eighteen and twenty thousand francs — thirty-six and forty times the first 
price. 

At the price which they nad attained the six hundred thousand shares represented 
a capital of ten or twelve billions of francs. 




7201 face i>. ."> 



b THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TEIBUTARIES. 

Bat the bubble soon burst and its explosion upset the finances of the 
whole Kingdom. 

Some years later, in 1745, a French engineer named Deverges made 
a report to his Government in favor of improving the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and stated that the bars there existing were a serious injury 
to'commerce. 

But France met with too powerful rivalry in the valley, and in 1762 
and 1763, after a supremacy of nearly a hundred years, was crowded 
out by the English from the Atlantic colonies and the Spaniards from 
the southwest, the Mississippi Biver forming the dividing line between 
the regions thus acquired by those two nations. 

The Spanish officials, for the purpose of promoting colonization, and 
to aid in establishing trading posts on the Mississippi, Missouri, Arkan- 
sas, Bed, and other rivers in the western half of the valley, granted to 
certain individuals, pioneers, and settlers, large tracts of land. They 
made little progress, however, in peopling their new territory. 

But whatever progress was made under the successive supremacies 
of France and Spain, the Mississippi and its navigable tributaries sup- 
plied the only highways of communication and commerce. 

In the year 1800, soon after Napoleon I became the civil ruler of 
France, he sought to add to the commercial glory of his country by re- 
acquiring the territory resting upon the Mississippi which his prede- 
cessors had parted with in 1763. 

To quote the language of a French historian: 

The cession that France made of Louisiana to Spain in 1763 had been considered in 
all our maritime and commercial cities as impolitic and injurious to the interests of 
our navigation, as well as to the French West Indies, and it was very generally wished 
that an opportunity might occur of recovering that colony. One of the first cares of 
Bonaparte was to renew with the court of Madrid a negotiation on that subject. 

He succeeded in these negotiations, and by the secret treaty of St. 
Ildefonso, in 1800, French domination was once more established over 
the great river. 

Two years later the commerce of the river had grown to large pro- 
portions. Says Marbois, of that period : " No rivers of Europe are more 
frequented than the Mississippi and tributaries." A substantially cor- 
rect idea of their patronage may be obtained from the record of the for- 
eign commerce from the mouth of the Mississippi, for nearly all of the 
commodities collected there for export had first floated down the river. 
Of the year 1802, says Martin in his history of Louisiana: 

There sailed from the Mississippi — 



American vessels . 
Spanish vessels . . . 
French vessels... 

Total 



No. 



158 

104 

3 



Tons. 



21, 383 

9,753 

105 



~; The tonnage of vessels that went in ballast, not that of public armed ones, is not 
included. The latter took off masts, yards, spars, and naval stores. 

This growing commercial movement down the river of the products 
of the valley was checked by a foolish or arbitrary order issued on the 
] 6th of October, 1802, by the Intendant Morales, " suspending the right 
of deposit" at the port of New Orleans. 

Marbois well illustrates the intense indignation at this order on the 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 7 

part of the Western people by attributing to them the following lan- 
guage: 

The Mississippi is ours by the law of nature; it belongs to us by our numbers, and 
by the labor which we have bestowed on those spots which before our arrival were 
desert and barren. Our innumerable rivers swell it and flow with it into the Gulf 
Sea. Its mouth is the only issue which nature has given to our waters, and we wish 
to use it for our vessels. No power in the world shall deprive us of this right. 

Of Morales' order James Madison, then Secretary of State, wrote to 
the official representative of the United States at the court of Spain: 

You are aware of the sensibility of our Western citizens to such an occurrence. 
This sensibility is justified by the iuterest they have at stake. The Mississippi to 
them is everything. It is the Hudson, the Delaware, the Potomac, and all the navi- 
gable rivers of the Atlantic States formed into one stream. 

At this time Thomas Jefferson was President, and in view of the un- 
easiness of the Western settlers, he hastened to send to France a special 
embassador to negotiate for the purchase of Louisiana Territory. The 
opportunity was a favorable one, for France was then in danger of a 
conflict with Great Britain. The latter country had become alarmed at 
and jealous of Bonaparte's commercial conquests, and he, apprehending 
war and fearing that he could not hold Louisiana, had about determined 
to do the next best thing — dispose of it to one of England's rivals. 

Marbois, the historian of Louisiana, from whom we have above quoted, 
was chosen by Napoleon to represent France in the negotiations with 
the representative of the United States sent by Jefferson. His account 
of the cession — the consultation between Napoleon and his ministers — 
and of his remarks and motives, forms one of the most instructive and 
interesting chapters of modern history. Napoleon foreshadowed his 
action by the following remark to one of his counselors: 

To emancipate nations from the commercial tyranny of Eugland it is necessary to 
balance her influence by a maritime power that may one day become her rival; that 
power is the United States. The English aspire to dispose of all the riches of the 
world. I shall be useful to the whole universe if I can prevent their ruling America 
as they rule Asia. 

In a subsequent conversation with two of his ministers, on the 10th of 
April, 1803, on the subject of the proposed cession, he said in speaking 
of England: "They shall not have the Mississippi which they covet." 

In accordance with this conclusion, on the 30th day of the same 
month, the sale was made to the United States. When informed that 
his instructions had been carried out and the treaty consummated, he 
remarked: 

This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States, and 
I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her 
pride. 

Under the stimulating influence of American enterprise the commerce 
of the valley rapidly developed. In 1812 it entered upon a new era of 
progress by the introduction for the first time upon the waters of the 
Mississippi of steam transportation. 

The river trade then grew from year to year, until the total domes- 
tic exports of its sole outlet at the sea-board — the port of New Or- 
leans — had during the fiscal year 1855-'56 reached the value of over 
$80,000,000. Its prestige was then eclipsed by railways, the first line 
reaching the Upper Mississippi in 1851, and the second the Lower Mis- 
sissippi, at Saint Louis, in 1857. Says Poor: 

The line first opened in this State from Chicago to the Mississippi was the Chicago 
and Rock Island, completed in February, 1854. The completion of this road extended 



8 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TEIBUTARIES. 

the railway system of the country to the Mississippi, up to this time the great route 
of commerce of the interior. This work, in connection with the numerous other 
lines since opened, has almost wholly diverted this commerce from what maybe 
termed its natural to artificial channels, so that no considerable portion of it now 
floats down the river to New Orleans. 

The correctness of this assertion may be seen by reference to the sta- 
tistics of the total domestic exports of New Orleans during the year 
ending June 30, 1879. They were $63,794,000 in value, or $16,000,000 
less than in 1856, when the rivalry with railways began. 

But since 1879 the river has entered upon a new and important era. 
The successful completion of the jetties by Capt. James B. Eads in- 
augurated a new era of river commerce and regained for it some of its 
lost prestige. 

Another step of great importance to the welfare of the Mississippi 
was taken about the same time. The control of its improvement was 
transferred by Congress to a board of skilled engineers known as the 
Mississippi Eiver Commission. The various conflicting theories of im- 
provement which have for years past done much to defeat the grand 
consummation desired will now be adjusted in a scientific and business- 
like manner. 

Again, the rapidly growing popular demand throughout the United 
States for more intimate commercial relations with Mexico and the sev- 
eral sister nations of Central and South America, which lie opposite 
the mouth of this great river system, is stimulating the long-neglected 
longitudinal trade and thereby creating a new demand for transporta- 
tion on the longitudinal water-ways which comprise the. Mississippi 
and its tributaries. 

The practical extension of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean by 
the coming opening of an interocean canal or ship railway, across the 
Isthmus of Central America or Tehuantepec, is still another commer- 
cial departure which will soon make a new demand for water trans- 
portation up and down the Mississippi Valley. 

In view of this tendency of American commerce and transportation 
a general or bird's eye view of the Mississippi, its tributaries, supple- 
ments, and national and international features will, it is thought, be of 
value to the producers and consumers who are so deeply interested in 
the subject of cheap transportation between the great interior and the 
sea- board. 



II -DESCRIPTIVE NOTES. 

EXTENT AS A DRAINAGE SYSTEM. 

The Mississippi and tributaries, considered as a drainage system, ex- 
tend nearly the whole length of the United States, from Canada to the 
Gulf, and across more than half its width, or from the summit of the 
Rocky Mountains to that of the Alleghanies. 

The Mississippi basin, in its strict sense, comprises the following 
minor basins or subdivisions: 



Basin. 


Square miles. 


Basin. 


Square miles. 




65, 646 

92, 721 

184, 742 

527, 690 




179 635 


Red 


Ohio 

Total 


207, 111 






1. 257, 545 







Of the many divisions and subdivisions of the river two hundred and 
forty are considered of sufficient importance to be named upon the 
river map in Walker's Statistical Atlas of the United States. They 
may be classified as follows : 

Red and tributaries 17 

Arkansas and tributaries 28 

Missouri aud tributaries 76 

Ohio aud tributaries 58 

Others not included in the above classification 61 

Total 240 

Probably as many more streams of minor importance are omitted 
from the map. 

EXTENT AS COMMERCIAL HIGHWAYS. 

Considered from a commercial stand-point the Mississippi and tribu- 
taries intersect or border twenty- one States and Territories, as follows : 

Alabama. Kansas. Nebraska. 

Arkansas. Kentucky. Ohio. 

Dakota Territory. Louisiana. Pennsylvania. 

Illinois. Minnesota. Tennessee. 

Indiana. Mississippi. Texas. 

Indian Territory. Missouri. West Virginia. 

Iowa. Montana Territory. Wisconsin. 

Steamers can now transport freight in unbroken bulk from St. An- 
thony's Falls to the Gulf of Mexico, a distance of 2,1G1 miles, and from 
Pittsburgh to Fort Benton, Mont., 4,333 miles. 

Lighter craft can ascend the Missouri to Great Falls, near where that 
river leaves the Kocky Mountains. 

9 



10 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



The outline map preceding Chapter I has been prepared to illustrate 
the comprehensive nature of this great river system. Its Briarean 
arms reach out in all directions and embrace nearly the whole United 
States. 

The cross-mark on each stream indicates the head of navigation, and 
in nearly every instance continuous navigation. 

The following table represents the mileage of the navigable portion 
of each above its month : 



Name of river. 



Missouri 

Mississippi 

Ohio 

Red 

Arkansas 

White 

Tennessee 

Cumberland 

Tellowstone 

Ouachita 

Wabash 

Osage 

Minnesota 

Bceuf 

Sunflower 

Illinois 

Tazoo 

Bartholmew 

Black (Arkansas) 

Green 

St. Francis 

Tallahatchie 

Wisconsin 



Name of river. 



Miles. 



Cache (Arkansas) 

Macon «... 

Allegheny 

Deer Creek 

Monongahela 

Kentucky 

Kenawha 

Muskingum 

Tensas 

Iowa 

Current 

Big Hatchie 

Bock 

Black (Louisiana) .... 

Chippewa 

St. Uroix 

Bis Horn 

Clinch 

Little Bed 

Big Cypress and Lake 

Big Black 

Dauchite 



160 

130 

123 

116 

110 

105 

91 

94 

92 

80 

80 

75 

64 

61 

57 

55 

50 

50 

49 

44 

35 

33 



The total present navigation of these rivers, 45 in all, is 16,090 miles — 
more than four times the length of the ocean line from New York to 
Liverpool, and more than four times the distance by rail across the 
continent from New York to San Francisco. 

But it will be largely increased in the near future, when certain pro- 
posed and needed improvements are madeon some of the upper streams. 
The possibilities in this respect are well illustrated by the condition of 
the Upper Mississippi. Of it the Select Committee of the United States 
Senate on Transportation Routes to the Sea-board said, in their report 
in 1874: 

The Mississippi has for several years been successfully navigated by steam-boats 
from the falls of St. Anthony to Sauk Rapids, a distance of 78 miles. During navi- 
gable seasons small steam-boats are also run on the various reaches of the river from 
Minneapolis to Leech Lake, the entire distance being about 675 miles. 

It is safe to assert that by improviug several tributaries the total 
navigation may be extended at least 1,000 miles. 

VALLEY STATES AND TERRITORIES. 

As we will have occasion, upon subsequent pages, to give statistics 
in regard to the sixteen valley States and Territories, and also the 
twenty-one States aud Territories intersected by the navigable portions 
of this great river system, it may be well to define the term valley. It 
comprises the following States and Territories : 



Arkansas. 


Kansas. 


Missouri. 


Dakota. 


Kentuckv. 


Nebraska. 


Illinois. 


Louisiana. 


Ohio. 


Indiana. 


Minnesota. 


Tennessee. 


Indian Territory. • 


Mississippi. 


Wisconsin. 


Iowa. 







THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 11 

Strictly speaking, a fractional part of a few of these States might be 
omitted from, and portions of other States included in, the term valley ; 
but as the statistics which we will have occasion to review are arranged 
by States we will not attempt to include those fractional parts, but will 
deal simply with facts relating to whole States. 

INTERNAL SUPPLEMENTS. 

Extensive and comprehensive as are the water-ways of the valley, 
they are not sufficient to satisfy the popular and commercial demand 
for inland water transportation. Many artificial extensions have already 
been constructed, and more are projected or proposed. 

The waters of the Mississippi have a present connection with the 
Great Lakes by means of a canal from the Wisconsin River to Fox 
Eiver and Lake Michigan, by a canal from the Wabash River to Lake 
Erie at Toledo, a canal from the Ohio River at Cincinnati to Lake Erie 
at Toledo, and a canal from the Ohio River at Portsmouth, Ohio, to 
Lake Erie at Cleveland — all of which canals are in turn supplemented 
by the water route via the Lakes, Erie Canal, and Hudson River to New 
York City, thereby uniting the Mississippi with the Atlantic Ocean. 

These four canals, and consequently the Mississippi, have another 
connection with the Atlantic by way of the Lakes, Wellaud. Canal, around 
Niagara Falls, and the St. Lawrence River, for the Canadian Govern- 
ment at a great cost completed the necessary connecting link. 

It is also proposed to unite the Mississippi with Lake Michigan by 
means of a canal extending from Davenport, Iowa, to Hennepin, on the 
Illinois River, and thence to Chicago. 

Again it is proposed that the United States utilize the St. Lawrence 
route by extending it to New York City by way of Lake Champlain 
and Hudson River. Such a connection has already been favorably 
reported by the Select Committee of the United States Senate on 
Transportation Routes to the Sea-board. A noticeable feature of this 
route is the connection in this way of the Mississippi Valley with a 
New Euglaud State, Vermont. 

It is also proposed to unite the waters of the Mississippi and the 
Lakes with the Atlantic at Baltimore by means of a canal from the ex- 
isting Erie Canal, via Seneca Lake, to an upper tributary of the Sus- 
quehanna, and thence to Chesapeake Bay. 

Again, a direct connection of the Mississippi with the Atlantic at 
Baltimore, without use of the Lakes, is proposed by way of the Alleghany 
River from Pittsburgh, the Kiskiminetas and Conemaugh Rivers, thence 
to the Juniata Valley and the Susquehanna, and down that river to 
Chesapeake Bay. A similar connection with Philadelphia is proposed 
by the same route from Pittsburgh to the Susquehanna, and thence 
across to Delaware Bay. 

Located a little farther south is the line of the projected and partially 
constructed Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, intended to connect the Atlan- 
tic with the West by way of the Potomac, Youghiogheny, Monongahela, 
and Ohio Rivers. The line is already completed from Washington to 
Cumberland. It was earnestly advocated by President Washington, 
who wished in this way to strengthen the political and commercial ties 
between the Atlantic States and the West. 

Next is the proposed James River and Kanawha Canal, to connect 
the Atlantic with the Mississippi Valley by way of the James. Green- 
brier, New, Kanawha, and Ohio Rivers. This route is already con- 
structed from Richmond to Buchanan, Va., a distance of 197 miles. It 



12 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 

was recently recommended by the said Senate Committee on Transpor- 
tation Eontes. 

Still further south it is proposed to supplement the Mississippi by 
means of a water line from the Tennessee Kiver, at Gunters ville, East 
Tennessee, via Short Creek, Wills Creek, Coosa, Etowah, and Ocmulgee 
Bivers, and thence along the coast to Savannah, Ga. This route was 
also recommended by the Senate Committee on Transportation Routes. 

In the far West it is proposed to unite the waters of" the Upper Mis- 
souri and Columbia Rivers, thereby connecting the Mississippi Valley 
with the Pacific Ocean. A bill to provide for a survey and report upon 
this route has recently been introduced in Congress. 

These various existing and proposed supplements may be seen by a 
reference to the map preceding Chapter I. 

INTER-OCEAN SUPPLEMENTS. 

To consummate the new commercial movement down the river and 
direct trade relations with the foreign countries around the Atlantic and 
Pacific Oceans, two other great works are needed — inter-ocean transit 
across Florida on the one side and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the 
other. The natural relations of both enterprises to the Mississippi are 
most intimate. Each may appropriately be termed a supplement or 
extension of the river. 

The proposed Florida ship-canal will shorten the distance between 
New Orleans and New York 571 statute miles each way, or 1,142 on the 
round trip. It will shorten the voyage between New Orleans and Liv- 
erpool 473 statute miles each way, or 946 on the round trip. 

The great saving of distance via this route, together with its ad- 
vantages in point of safety over the present hazardous route around 
the southern extremity of Florida, will render it a material aid to the 
Mississippi in preventing the acquisition by Canada of the grain trans- 
portation business between the valley and Liverpool. 

On the 18th of December, 1880, Mexico entered into a contract with 
Capt. James B. Eads for the construction of a ship-railway across the 
Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 

This inter-ocean line, when completed, will give the Gulf of Mexico 
and its surroundings their first direct commercial outlet to the Pacific 
Ocean and its surrounding countries, with the following saving of dis- 
tances over the existing railway at Panama and the existing steam-ship 
route around Cape Horn : 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Hong-Kong : Statute miles. 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec (great circle) 10, 092 

Via Isthmus of Panama (great circle) 11,912 

Saving via Tehuantepec (one way) 1,820 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) 3,640 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Hong Kong: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec (great circle) 10,092 

Via Cape Horn (great circle) 20, 594 

Sa\ ing via Tehuantepec (one way) 10, 502 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) 21,004 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Yokohama: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec (great circle) 8,549 

Via Isthmus of Panama (great circle) 10, 369 

Saving via Tehuantepec (one way) 1,820 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) ;- 3,640 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Yokohama: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec (great circle ) 8,549 

Via Cape Horn (great circle) -■--. 20, 018 

Saving via Tehuantepec (one way) 11,469 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) 22,938 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 13 

Statute milea. 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Sydney, Australia: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec (great circle) 9, 188 

Via Isthmus of Panama (great circle) 10, 341 

Saving via Tehuautepec (one way) 1, 153 

Saving via Tehuautepec (round trip) 2, 306 

Mouth of the Mississippi to Sydney, Australia: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuautepec (great circle) 9, 188 

Via Cape Horn (great circle) 14, 975 

Saving via Tehuantepec (one way) 5, 787 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) 11,574 

Mouth of the Mississippi to San Francisco: 

Via Isthmus of Tehuantepec 3, 466 

Via Isthmus of Panama 5, 302 

Saving via Tehuantepec (oue way) 1,836 

Saving via Tehuantepec (round trip) 3,672 

Mouth of the Mississippi to San Francisco : 

Via Isthmus of Tehuautepec 3,466 

Via Cape Horn 15, 908 

Saving via Tehuantepec (one way) 12,442 

Saving via Tehuautepec (round trip) 24,884 



III.— ECONOMICAL FEATURES. 

CORRECT LOCATION. 

Eailroads and other highways intended for the accommodation of com- 
merce fall far short of success when unwisely located. Too many have 
violated the laws of political economy in this respect, and have proved 
ruinous to their stockholders and almost useless to the public. A nation 
may sometimes, for political or military purposes, construct a road 
through a desert or mountainous and unproductive region ; but neces- 
sity, instead of economy, is the theory on which it acts. Commerce is 
governed by other considerations. It seeks that which is both useful 
and profitable. 

The Mississippi and tributaries intersect the most fertile valley of the 
whole world — the productive center of this continent. It supplies trans- 
portation where most needed, and is, therefore, most wisely and eco- 
nomically located. 

CONNECTION OF OPPOSITE CLIMATES. 

Eailways in the past have given undue attention to commercial ex- 
changes along parallels of latitude, between similar climates, with sim- 
ilar products and characteristics. The tendency of the whole Mississippi 
Eiver system is the other way, from north to south, one climate to an- 
other, regions which are the reverse and complement of each other in 
supply and demand. In this respect also it observes a fundamental 
law of trade. 

CONSTRUCTION BY NATURE. 

The next important consideration in a transportation line is the cost 
of construction. Eailway stockholders expect dividends, and if their 
roads be extravagantly built the burden is soon shifted to the shoul- 
ders of the producer and consumer along the way in the shape of ex- 
cessive rates. Even if rightly located and cheaply built, railroads 
represent enormous capital when contrasted with rivers made by nature 
at no expense to the people. 

The 16,090 miles of navigable water-ways which constitute the com- 
mercial part of the Mississippi Eiver system were constructed and pre- 
sented by nature at no cost to the people. But they are just as valuable 
as if artificially built. They are the nation's property, and should, like 
its military roads, its custom-houses, post-offices, and other property, be 
kept in repair. Congress is the board of management for this purpose, 
and should, in guarding the people's transportation property, exercise 
the same skill and observe the same laws of economy as railway directors 
who are chosen to manage the railway lines owned by individual stock- 
holders. 

14 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TEIBUT ARIES. 15 

COMMERCIAL VALUE. 

There were, during the census year 1880, 87,782 miles of railway iu 
operation in the United States, built at a total cost, for construction, 
of $4,112,367,176, or an average of $46,848 per mile. 

Now, in view of the facts and figures showing the superior aud 
economical location of the Mississippi and its navigable tributaries, 
their wonderful commercial capacity, their facilities for cheap transpor- 
tation, the enormous annual products of the twenty-one States and 
Territories intersected, and the colossal proportions of their internal 
commerce, it may not be unreasonable to estimate their actual commer- 
cial value as follows : 

The Lower Mississippi, from Saint Louis to the Gulf, at $468,480 per 
mile, or ten times the average cost per mile of the railways of the 
United States. 

The Upper Mississippi, from Saint Louis to St. Anthony's Falls, at 
$327,936 per mile, or seven times that of the average railway. 

The Ohio, from its mouth to Pittsburgh, the Missouri, from its mouth 
to Sioux City, the Ked Kiver, from its mouth to Shreveport, and the 
Cumberland, from its mouth to Nashville, at $234,240 per mile, or five 
times that of the average railway. 

The remaining navigable tributaries of the Mississippi at $46,848 per 
mile, or the same as that of the average railway. 

We have then a total valuation as follows : 

The Lower Mississippi, from Saint Louis to the Gulf (l,352.miles) $633,387,664 

The Upper Mississippi, from Saint Louis to St. Anthony's Falls (809 

miles) '. 265,300,224 

The Ohio, from its mouth to Pittsburgh (1,021 miles) 239,159,040 

The Missouri, from its mouth to Sioux City (1,019 miles) 238,690,560 

The Red, from its mouth to Shreveport (456 miles) 106,813,440 

The Cumberland, from its month to Nashville (209 miles) 48,956,160 

The remaining navigable tributaries of the Mississippi (10,774 miles).. 522,542,592 

Total value 2,054,849,680 

In other words, the people of the United States have in the Missis- 
sippi and its forty-four navigable tributaries, highways of commerce 
and cheap transportation to the sea-board to the enormous value of 
$2,000,000,000. This property was a present from nature. The ques- 
tion naturally arises, will they manage it on business principles and 
keep it in- an adequate state of repairs? 

COST OF REPAIRS. 

The total sum expended by the General Government from March 4, 
1789, to June 30, 1886 (a period of ninety-seven years), in the improve- 
ment of the Mississippi and its forty-four navigable tributaries, was in 
round numbers about $51,000,000. 



16 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



The expenditures by rivers, compiled and rearranged from the official 
reports of the Treasury Department, are as follows : 



Name. 



Mississippi 

OMo 

Missouri 

Tennessee 

Kanawha 

Bed 

Illinois , 

Cumberland 

Kentucky 

Wabash '. , 

Arkansas , 

Monon gahela 

Ouachita 

Osage , 

Yazoo , 

White 

Chippewa 

Minnesota 

Muskingum , 

Yellowstone 

Cypress and Lake 

St. Croix , 

Black (Arkansas) . 

Allegheny 

Sunflower 

St. Francis 

Black (Louisiana) . 

Tallahatchie : 

Clinch 

Big Hatchie 

Bartholomew , 



$29, 
5, 

2,' 
1, 
1, 
1, 



785, 666 
048, 348 
866, 965 
816, 456 
749, 000 
443, 793 
161, 000 
722, 479 
709, 998 
487, 500 
420, 076 
303, 600 
290, 000 
189, 994 
143, 000 
142, 000 
128, 000 
117, 500 
110, 000 
100, 000 
94, 000 
75, 000 
51, 000 
50, 000 
42, 000 
27, 000 
25, 000 
24, 000 
21,000 
19,000 
18, 000 



Name. 


Amount. 


Boeuf 


$15, 000 




7,000 

7,000 

5,000 

934 




Big Black (Mississippi) 






Wisconsin (see Miscellaneous). 












Iowa (see Miscellaneous). 




Little Bed 









and 



Miscellaneous. 

Fox and Wisconsin 

Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri, 

Arkansas 

Mississippi and Ohio 

Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkan- 
sas 

Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio ... 

White and St. Francis 

Mississippi and Missouri 

Lower Mississippi and tributaries 

White, Black, and Little Eed 

White, Black, and St. Francis 

Des Moines and Iowa 



Total . 



2, 579, 522 

2, 484, 937 
631, 500 

265, 000 

222, 923 

132, 000 

98, 541 

11, 855 

10, 000 

1, 623 

999 



55, 654, 209 



A slight deduction should be made from the grand total, as Fox 
River, included in the list, is not a tributary of the Mississippi ; but as 
its appropriation is combined with that of the Wisconsin, which is a 
tributary, the two can not be separated. Another slight deduction, 
probably about $3,000,000, should be made from the total for unex- 
pended balances carried to the surplus fund, but this deduction can not 
Be given by rivers. Estimating the two deductions at $4,000,000, we 
have as a net total of expenditures for the improvement of the Missis- 
sippi and its forty-four navigable tributaries $51,654,209. This is at the 
rate of $532,515 per year during the ninety-seven years since the begin- 
ning of the Government for the improvement of forty-five rivers, navi- 
gable to the extent of 16,090 miles, or at the rate of $33 per mile per year. 

As the commercial value of these forty-five rivers is, on a previous 
page, estimated at $2,054,849,680, the total cost of repairs during the 
ninety-seven years was but 2 j per cent, of their value, or at the rate of 
one-fortieth of 1 per cent, of their value per year. 

In brief, the forty-five rivers cost nothing, being a present from na- 
ture, and their repairs next to nothing. 

COMMERCIAL CAPACITY. 

The enormous capacity of the Mississippi and its principal tributaries 
for the transportation of bulky agricultural, forestry, and mineral prod- 
ucts of the States intersected was admirably illustrated by the follow- 
ing paragraph which appeared in the Western papers in 1879. It is a 
volume in itself, and worthy of frequent repetition to impress upon the 
minds of the producers of this country the great commercial importance 
of the water-ways with which they have been so liberally endowed by 
nature : 

The tow-boat Josh Williams is ou her way to New Orleans with a tow of thirty-two 
barges, containing 600,000 bushels (76 pounds to the bushel) of coal, exclusive of her 
own fuel, being the largest tow ever taken to New Orleans or anywhere else in the 
world. Her freight bill, at 3 cents a bushel, amounts to $18,000. 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



17 



It would take 1,800 cars of 333 bushels to the car (which is an overload for ;i car) 
to transport this amount of coal. 

At §10 per ton, or $100 per car, which would bo a fair price for the distance by rail, 
the freight bill would amount to $180,0,00, or $162,000 more by rail than by river. 

The tow will be taken from Pittsburgh to New Orleans in fourteen or fifteen days. 

It would require one hundred trains, of eighteen cars to the train, to transport this 
one tow of 600,000 bushels of coal, and even if it made the usual speed of fast freight 
lines it would take one whole summer to put it through by rail. 

This statement shows the wonderful superiority of this river over rail facilities. 

CHEAP TRANSPORTATION. 

The question of cheap transportation has during late years assumed 
great importance, for the reason that it affects both internal and for- 
eign commerce and the welfare of both the producer and consumer. 
When the rates are too high, production is checked. It has been no 
unusual thing to hear of farmers in the West burning or otherwise de- 
stroying their grain because it was unprofitable to ship it abroad. The 
object of commercial exchanges is profit, and where that does not exist 
internal commerce suffers. So with foreign exchanges. If England 
and France and other purchasers of our graiu and provisions can buy 
at cheaper rates elsewhere they are sure to do so. The competition 
among commercial nations is so great that a trifling overcharge in rates 
of transportation may cost the loss of an important market. 

The rivals of the United States will, if they can supply Liverpool at 
cheaper rates, control that market. The subject was well illustrated in 
a public letter by ex-Governor Horatio Seymour in the fall of 1878, who 
has carefully studied the effect of the Erie Canal on freight rates. We 
quote the following following from that letter : 

Those who wish to learn the causes of our present exports must compare the cost 
of carrying this season with that of other years. It has been 15 cents for a bushel 
of wheat by canal from Buffalo to New York. This season at times it has been less 
than 5 cents. The cost from Chicago to New York has been 25 cents for a bushel. In 
the past summer it has been taken for less than 7 cents. The policy of taking charges 
off from commerce is not only shown upon water routes ; it brought down railroad 
charges. In 1873 the Central road charged for taking wheat from Buffalo to New 
York '21 cents per bushel in the winter and 18 cents in the summer months. This 
year the road has taken it for 5 cents. 

The effect of water transportation is direct and indirect. In other 
words, it. furnishes the shipper with cheap rates, and also, by its com- 
petitive influence, forces railways to lessen the charges. 

The rates of transportation of grain from the center of the Mississippi 
Valley at Saint Louis to the sea-board at New Orleans by river, contrasted 
with the rates from Saint Louis to New York by rail, were, according to 
the annual reports of the Saint Louis Merchants' Exchange, as follows 
during the past ten years: 



Tear. 




Avenge rate Average rale 



on wheat, 


on grain 


Averagi 


rate 


iu bulk, 


in Backs, iiu 


on gram 


in barges, 


steam-boat, 


Ijv rail 


to 


bv river, to 


by river. 


New York, 


New Or- 


to New Or- 


per ltiO 


leans, per 
bushel. 


leans, per 


pound 


3. 


100 pounds. 






Cents. 


Cents. 


Cents 




84 


21 




41 


7i 


174 




28 


7| 


18 




334f 


H 


19 




42- 


6 


•_'(i 




82 


6 A 


20 




29* 


5* 


17| 




33 


6f 


14 




26 


<H 


15 




22* 


0J 


1C 




29 



18 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 

It will be observed that the rate on grain by river to the sea-board at 
New Orleans daring' 1886 was 13 cents less per hundred pounds than by 
rail to the sea-board at New York. To appreciate the magnitude of this 
difference when applied to the grain crop of the twenty-one States and 
Territories intersected by the Mississippi and its navigable tributaries, 
supposing half of the annual crop had to be transported from Saint 
Louis to the sea-board, let us glance at a few statistics. 

Their total grain crop during the year 1885 was 2,529,781,000 bushels, 
as may be seen by reference to another page. A saving of 7 cents per 
bushel on half of this crop would amount to $88,542,335. 

But grain is only one item of the agricultural freights of the valley 
which can best be transported by water. If to the above sum of 
$88,542,335 were added the possible annual saving by river transporta- 
tion on the hay, coal, potatoes, cotton, tobacco, and other bulky products 
of the valley the total would reach immense proportions. 

We know of no better conclusion to draw from the above facts and 
figures than that made by the Select Committee of the United States 
Senate, in 1874, on Transportation Routes to the Sea-board, after a full 
and exhaustive review of that important subject, viz: 

The above facts and conclusions, together with the remarkable physical adaptation 
of our country for cheap and ample water communication, point unerringly to the 
improvement of our great natural water-ways and their connection by canals, or by 
short freight railway portages, under control of the Government, as the obvious and 
certain solution of the problem of cheap transportation. 

The importance of this subject may be further illustrated by a glance 
at the total freight earnings of the railroads of the United States dur- 
ing a period of only six years. They were as follows: 

1881 1551,968,477 

1882 50(1,367,247 

1883 ___ 549,756,695 

1884 502,869,910 

1885 519,690,992 

Total 2,630,653,321 

In other words, the freight charges by the railways of the United 
States amount in five years to a sum greater than the whole national 
debt. 

We do not make these comparisons for the purpose of reflecting upon 
railways, but to reach some statistical conclusion in regard to the value 
and importance of the rivers of the valley. In this broad, fertile, and 
but partially developed country there is room enough for both classes 
of highways. Eailways are needed, not only those now in operation, 
but many more, and rivers are needed as freight regulators. 

In brief, the Mississippi is the balance-wheel which is destined to 
regulate the railway freight movements of the great interior of the 
nation. This idea was well expressed in the following editorial of the 
Springfield Republican of December 13, 1880: 

The Mississippi River is certain in time to play a part in regulating transconti- 
nental freight transportation not unlike that of the Erie Canal in relation to the 
New York railroads. The block in through freight on all the East and West roads 
threatened last week to set back to Saint Lonis, but it was relieved there by starting 
the corn and wheat down the river, from 300 to 400 cars at a time being loaded on 
barges. As trade develops and navigation improves it is plain this must become 
more and more common, and through rail rates will some day be fixed by the compe- 
tition of the Mississippi, on which navigation is never closed. 



IV -PRODUCTS OF STATES INTERSECTED. 

CONTRAST WITH THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The transcendent commercial importance of the water-ways of the 
Mississippi and its forty-four navigable tributaries can best be appre- 
ciated by a glance at the statistics of the great staple products of the 
twenty-one States and Territories intersected or bordered by this system. 

Their products, contrasted with those of the whole United States, 
during the last census year (1880) were as follows : 

Nine-eight per cent, of the sugar. 

Ninety four per cent, of the coal. 

Eighty-nine per cent, of the com. 

Eighty one per cent, of the pig-iron. 

Seventy- six per cent, of the oats. 

Seventy-four per cent, of the wheat. 

Sixty-eight per cent, of the cotton. 

Sixty-six per cent, of the tobacco. 

Sixty per cent, of the hay. 

Fifty-seven per cent, of the forest products. 

Fifty-six per cent, of the wool. 

Eighty-two per cent, of the swine. 

Seventy-seven per cent, of the mules. 

Seventy four per cent, of the horses. 

Seventy-three per cent, of the cattle. 

Their total grain product during the year 188.3 was as follows : 

Bushels. 

Indian com 1,729,924,000 

Oats 514,100,000 

Wheat 241,722,000 

Barley 22, 916, 000 

Rye 15,464,000 

Buckwheat 5,655,000 

Total 2,529,781,000 

In other words, the States and Territories tapped by the navigable 
portions of the Mississippi liiver system produced grain to the extent 
of 45 bushels for every man, woman, and child in the United States, 
estimating the population that year at 55,000,000 souls. They are, then, 
not only the granary of the nation, but of the world. 

19 



V -INTERNAL COMMERCE OF THE STATES INTERSECTED.. 

ESTIMATE OF ITS VALUE. 

It is, of course, difficult to estimate the value of the internal commerce* 
of the twenty-one States and Territories under consideration, for, un- 
like foreign commerce, it is not subject to the laws and regulations- 
which necessitate a record of transactions with foreign countries. 

The Chief of the Bureau of Statistics, in his first annual report on 
the internal commerce of the United States, published in 1877, esti- 
mated its value to be twenty-five times that of our total foreign com- 
merce. Bis reasons for the estimate were as follows : 

The relative importance of internal and of foreign commerce may be inferred from 
the following comparative statements : 
Estimated value of shipping (American and foreign) employed in our 

foreign trade $200,000,000 

Estimated value of the railroads of the United States 4,600,000,000' 

The value of the commodities embraced in our foreign commerce aqd the estimated 
value of commodities transported on railroads are as follows : 

Value of imports and exports (foreign commerce) $1, 121,634,277 

Estimated value of commodities transported on rail (^internal com- 
merce) 18,000,000,000> 

It appears from these estimates that the value of the railroads of the country is- 
about twenty-three times the value of the shipping engaged in our foreign trade, and 
that the value of our internal commerce on railroads is about sixteen times the value 
of our foreign commerce. 

It is to be observed that these comparative statements embrace the value of our 
entire foreign commerce, whereas the data in regard to internal commerce relate only 
to railroads. 

If it were possible to ascertain the value of the commerce between the different sec- 
tions of the country, on the ocean and gulf, and on the lakes, rivers, and other 
avenues of transportation, we should probably find that the total value of our internal 
commerce is at least twenty-five times greater than the value of our foreign com- 
merce. 

If we accept this estimate as correct, we must multiply the present 
foreign commerce of the United States (which during the fiscal year 
ending June 30, 1886, was $1,314,960,966 in value) by twenty-five to 
reach the present total of our internal commerce. The result is the 
enormous sum of $32,874,024,150, or more than double the value of the 
foreign commerce of the whole world. 

The question now arises, what portion of this internal trade belongs 
to the twenty-one States and Territories tapped by the navigable por- 
tions of the Mississippi and tributaries ? In view of the facts and figures 
above given in regard to their percentage of staple products, it is 
doubtless fair to assume that their internal trade is at least half that of 
the United States. The logical conclusion, then, from the above prem- 
ises is that the internal commerce of the twenty-one States and Terri- 
tories is upward of $16,000,000,000 in value, or greater than the foreign 
commerce of all nations combined. 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



21 



But suppose tbis estimate by tbe Cbief'of tbe Bureau is too high (as 
a discussion of tbe subject in a subsequent report set-ins to indicate), 
and tbat it be reduced one-half, even tben tbe internal commerce of tbe 
twenty-one States and Territories would be as great as tbe foreign com- 
merce of Great Britain, France, and Germany combined. 

HOW TRANSPORTED. 

In former days, before tbe era of railways, tbe products of tbe val- 
ley were carried almost entirely by river. It was also tbe principal 
passenger line. Tbe small boats of tbe early Spanish and French ex- 
plorers floated upon its waters. The early emigration from the East to 
the West relied upon the waters of the Ohio. The trading posts of the 
valley were established upon the banks of the various navigable 
streams, and with the growth of the towns, villages, and cities the 
traffic upon the Mississippi and tributaries grew to large proportions. 
But bow is it to-day ? 

Perhaps no fairer illustration can be found thau the receipts and 
shipments of freight of Saint Louis, situated as it is in the center of 
this great river system. 

During the past ten years the total receipts and shipments of this 
commercial center were in tons, as follows : 



Tear. 


By River. 


By Rail. 


1877 


Tons. 

1, 242, 155 
1. 329, 375 
1, 366, 115 
1, 931, 385 
1, 736, 435 
1,571,985 
1, 300, 565 
1, 035, 260 
1,013,240 
1,132.100 


Tons. 

5 137, 238 


1878 


5. 655, 866 


3879 


6 948, 794 


]88(> 


8, 852. 201 




10,213,487 
10 649, 782 




1 882 




10 408 93!) 




1884 


10,052,206 


H885 


10, 301, 301 





10, 728, 110 








Total 


13, 664, 615 


88 957 927 







In brief, ten years ago 19.4 per cent, of annual freights of Saint 
Louis were transported by river and 80.G per cent, by rail ; but during 
tbe last year only 9.J per cent, were transported by river. 



INCREASING DEMAND FOR TRANSPORTATION. 

The importance of keeping the inland water lines in good repair may 
be seen from the past demand of the valley for transportation routes 
to the sea-board, but still more clearly from an examination of its prob- 
able future growth and development. In business matters we can 
safely judge the future by the past. What material progress, then, do 
we fiud, and what may we expect in the future ? 

The statistics of corn grown in the twenty-one States and Territories 
intersected by the Mississippi and tributaries during the years I860 and 
1885 were as follows: 

Bushels. 

1860 651,014,436 

1885 1,729,9-24,000 

This was an increase of 1G5 per cent, in twenty-five years. 



22 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 



The growing, demand for transportation facilities may be further illus- 
trated by reference to the statistics of improved lands at the time of the 
census of 1870 and 1880. 



State. 



Total area. 



Improved 
land, 1870. 



Improved 
land, 1880. 



Arkansas 

Illinois 

Indiana 

Iowa 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

Nebraska 

Ohio 

Tennessee 

"Wisconsin 

Dakota 

Indian Territory 

Total 



ores. 
406, 720 
462, 400 
637, 760 
228, 800 
013, 520 
115, 200 
461, 440 
459, 840 
197. 840 
824, 000 
636, 800 
576, 960 
184, 000 
511,360 
596, 480 
154, 240 



eres. 
859, 821 
329, 952 
104, 279 
396, 467 
971, 003 
103, 850 
045, 640 
322, 102 
209, 146 
130, 615 
647, 031 
469, 133 
843, 278 
899, 343 
42, 645 



A ares. 

3, 595, 603 
26, 215, 154 
13, 933, 738 
19, 866, 541 
10, 739, 566 
10, 731, 682 

2, 739, 972 

7, 246, 693 
5, 216, 937 

16, 745, 031 

5, 504, 702 

18, 081, 091 

8, 496, 556 
9, 162, 528 
1,150,413 



632, 479, 360 



96, 374, 305 



159, 326, 208 



The contrast shows that in 1870 only 15 per cent, of the area of these 
great and productive States and Territories was then improved, and 
that 85 per cent, remained for development, and that in 1880 but 25 
per cent., or one-fourth part, was improved. 

The coal fields of the valley States furnish still more striking evi- 
dence to the same effect. Their product and its increase in fifteen 
years were as follows : 

Tons. 

1870 6,793,098 

1*85 32,118,208 

Increase 25, 325, 110- 

Or more than 370 per cent. 

That increase is trilling compared with what we may expect in the 
near future, for the coal deposits of these States are the most extensive 
that exist in the whole country, yet the least developed. 

These facts and figures clearly indicate that we may expect a regu- 
larly increasing demand for cheap, convenient, and untrammeled trans- 
portation from the valley to the sea-board, until its fertile fields are 
adequately populated and developed. 

Unless this reasonable demand is supplied by a thorough and com- 
prehensive improvement of the channels of the Mississippi and its con- 
fluents, the natural development of the great interior States will fall 
far short of their possibilities, and theconsumers of the East, as well 
as the producers of the West, will suffer from the neglect. 



VI -ALLUVIAL LANDS. 

AREA AND PRESENT CONDITION. 

The area of the alluvial lauds along the Lower Mississippi and tribu- 
taries is 41,193 square miles, being as large as the combined areas of New- 
Hampshire, Vermont. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and 
New Jersey. It is three fourths the extent of England, which contains 
52,922 square miles, and more than eighteen times larger than Holland, 
which is a rich country formed by the protection of alluvial lands along 
certain rivers and the Zuyder Zee. This area of the Mississippi Delta, 
reduced to acres, is 26,363,520. According to those most familiar with 
the subject, and who are competent judges, all but 10 percent, of these 
lands are susceptible of cultivation and of unsurpassed fertility. We 
have, then, 23,727,168 acres to be protected, their increased values to be 
added to the general wealth and their products to help swell the sum 
total of the national industries. 

What is their present condition ? We find that in 1870 but 1,969,238 
acres, or less than 8 per cent, of their area, was under cultivation. 

Why are these rich and productive lands thus ueglected ? Chiefly, if 
not solely, because of the periodical destruction of crops, buildings, and 
danger to health and even life from the overflow of the river. 

PRESENT VALUE. 

The value of the above 1,969,238 acres, improved in 1870, was, accord- 
ing to an estimate by the Chief of Engineers, U. S. Army, $80,431,221, 
or $40.84 per acre. The remaining 21,757,930 acres which are unim- 
proved, but susceptible of cultivation, had but trifling values, say from 
10 cents to $2 per acre. Mr. Ellis said, in his report to the House of 
Representatives in 1876: "Millions of acres have been sold for taxes ; 
others, after advertisement, have failed to bring anything whatever." 
It is believed $1.25 was in 1876 a fair estimate of the value per acre of 
those unimproved lands. We reach, then, the following conclusion, 
supposing the values and areas cultivated have not materially changed : 

Value of improved lauds $80, 431, 221 

Value of unimproved lands 27, 197, 612 

Total value 107,628,833 

FUTURE VALUE IF PROTECTED. 

Xow, let us consider their possibilities. The totals resulting are so 
large that only by comparison can we appreciate the fairness of the 
estimate. 

Probably no one will dispute the assertion that the Delta of the Mis- 
sissippi is as productive as the Delta of the Ehiue in the Netherlands, 
and if the statistics of the value of the protected lands in Holland and 

23 



24 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TEIBUTARIES. 

other provinces of the Netherlands were accessible, it would be an in- 
teresting and fair comparison, because of the similarity existing be- 
tween these countries. But as they are not within reach, we will take 
for a comparison the farm lands of New Jersey. We select that State, 
because its farm lands have a very high value per acre, and for the 
further reason that no lands in the country are too fertile and valuable 
to be contrasted with the possibilities of the Mississippi Delta. 

According to the United States census of 1880 the average value per 
acre of the 2,096,297 acres of improved lands in New Jersey, including 
farms, fences, and buildings, was $91 per acre. 

The alluvial lauds of the Mississippi, if protected and improved, 
would, at that rate per acre, be worth $2,399,080,320. As their present 
value is but $107,628,833, the increase would be more than $2,000,000,000. 

PRODUCTIVE CAPACITY. 

It certainly is not an overestimate of the productive capacity of the 
alluvia] lands to say they will yield on an average as much as the farm 
lands of New Jersey. Such a comparison doubtless underestimates 
their capacity. The value per acre of the products of the improved lands 
of said State was, in 1880, $14.14. At that yield per acre the alluvial 
lands would annually produce to the value of $372,780,172. This is a 
moderate estimate, as maybe seen from the following calculation, made 
from a different basis : According to the official report of 1877, of the 
United States Commissioner of Agriculture, it takes, in the cotton- 
producing States of this country, an average of 2.63 acres to produce 
one bale of cotton. No one familiar with the alluvial lands will dispute 
their wonderful capacity for cotton-growing. At the same rate, 2.63 
acres to the bale, the total area would produce 9,021,736 bales. Ee- 
ducing that to pounds, at 440 pounds to the bale, we have a total of 
3,969,563,840 pounds. At 11 cents per pound the total value of their 
annual crop would be $436,652,022. It is evidently nearer the truth to 
say that the overflowed lands, if protected and cultivated as carefully 
as the farm lands of New Jersey, would produce on an average at least 
one bale to every acre. It is an assertion which any planter familiar 
with the wonderful fertility, depth, and inexhaustibility of the alluvial 
soil will readily indorse. At that rate the Delta of the Mississippi 
would produce each year 23,727,168 bales, worth, at 440 pounds to the 
bale, and at 11 cents per pound, $1,148,394,931. 

CONTRASTS WITH THE NETHERLANDS. 

The history of the protection and development of the Netherlands 
(low countries), an exact parallel in formation to the alluvial lands of 
the Mississippi Valley, proves very clearly that we have not overesti- 
mated tbe importance of the subject. 

The United Kingdom of the Netherlands contains but 12,680 square 
miles, and North and South Holland, two of the eleven subdivisions of 
the same, but 2,209 square miles. The whole of the Netherlands is 
made-land, having been formed by protection from the overflow of the 
Lower Rhine, the Maas, the Scheldt, and other rivers, 90 lakes, and the 
Zuyder Zee. The total cost of their protection by dikes, embankments, 
and other works was $1,500,000,000. The annual cost of guarding, 
protecting, and repairing is stated to be from $2,000,000 to $2,500,000. 
Probably that country, in proportion to its population, is the wealthiest 
nation upon the face of tbe earth. 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 25 

An elaborate review of the same says: 

The country is everywhere well peopled, and no population in the world exhibits a 
more uniform appearance of wealth, comfort, and contentment. 

Holland not only has capital enough for home use, but the Dutch of 
Amsterdam are capitalist who have a large surplus to lend for public 
improvements and large enterprises in other nations. Yet all the wealth 
of this rich and commercially powerful kingdom was accumulated in 
an alluvial country having an area less than one-third that of the allu- 
vial lands along the Lower Mississippi. 

We will profit by their example if we protect our own lands from over- 
flows — lands which are equally productive and far more easily and 
cheaply protected. The Dutch are, as a nation, economical and con- 
servative. We, who claim to be progressive, should display equal en- 
terprise in adding to the sum total of our national wealth, particularly 
when it can be done incidentally to a more important work — the im- 
provement of navigation. 

THE QUESTION OF PROTECTION. 

If incidentally to the improvement of navigation the rich alluvial 
lands of the Lower Mississippi Valley should be protected from de- 
structive floods, and almost fabulous additions made to the taxable 
wealth of the country, millions of citizens would be benefited and none 
injured. But before stating the facts and figures it may be well to 
notice some of the popular misunderstandings of this important subject. 

The Mississippi River Commission, who have now in charge the work 
of improvement, have repeatedly, since their appointment, been termed 
by the press the "Levee Commission," thereby conveying to the mind 
of the public the erroneous impression that their chief duty was to 
serve the interest of one section of the valley and build levees. What 
are the facts ? The act creating tbe Commission is entitled, "An act 
to provide for the appointment of a ' Mississippi River Commission,' 
for the improvement of said river from the head of the passes, near its 
mouth, to its headwaters," which headwaters are in the State of Min- 
nesota, near the northern boundary of the United States. Section 4 of 
the act prescribes their duty as follows : 

It shall be the duty of said Commission to take into consideration and mature such 
plau or plans a-t will correct, permanently locate, and deepen the channel, and pro- 
tect the banks of the Mississippi River ; improve and give safety and ease to the navi- 
gation thereof; prevent destructive Hoods; promote and facilitate commerce, trade, 
and the postal service. 

The Commission shall report in full upon the practicability, feasibility, and prob- 
able cost of the various plans known as the jetty system, tbe levee system, and the 
outlet system, as well as upon such others as they deem necessary. 

This correction is important, for such misapprehension tends to throw 
discredit upon a great national work. 

Another source of misunderstanding and opposition has been the un- 
necessary use of the word "reclamation" in many bills which have iu 
the past been introduced in Congress upon the subject of river improve- 
ment. That word was not used in the act creating the Commission, nor 
is it one of their duties to do farming for individuals at Government 
expense. An emphatic disclaimer of such a purpose was made in the 
House of Representatives by the chairman of the Committee on the 
Mississippi, Hon. E. W. Robertson, in a speech advocating the appoint- 
ment of a commission. He said of the bill then pending : 

It coulemplates the improvement of tbe chief avenue of transportation of a great 
commercial nation. It also seeks to protect from floods and pestilence over 26,000,000 



26 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TEIBUTARIES. 

acres of the most fertile and productive lands upon the face of the earth. Ic does 
not, as is so often alleged, aim at the reclamation of those lands, or seek to perform 
■work which properly belongs to the individual citizen. The word " reclamation " is 
not used in the bill. It is well that we understand the distinction at the outset of 
this discussion, for the wrong use and confusion of terms have given the opponents of 
river improvement an opportunity to misinterpret, and therefore misrepresent, the 
object we seek to accomplish. The word "reclamation" has furnished thetn with the 
key-note of unjust criticism. We simply ask protection from the frequent ravages of 
this great river, over which no power but the General Government has legal control, 
in order that we who possess lands along its course may have an opportunity to re- 
claim and cultivate them at our own expense. 

In another speech in the House of Representatives, May 18, 1882, on 
the subject of the " protection of the valley," he was still more explicit,, 
and stated the case with great force, as follows : 

In brief, we ask the protection not simply of alluvial lands, but agricultural iu a- 
broad and national sense; not only agriculture, but manufactures, commerce, the 
postal service, and the people themselves of the lower valley, an alluvial area em- 
bracing 41,000 square miles, or nearly as large as all New Eugland; three times the 
area of the celebrated valley of the Nile, formerly the granary of the oriental world ; 
and eighteen times the size of Holland — a magnificent empire in its extent and re- 
sources. 

From what do we ask protection ? From the overflows of a great national sewer 
filled with the drainage of twenty-eight States and Territories ; from the overflow 
of a great national highway of commerce, the trunk line of forty-two navigable trib- 
utaries, which supply water transportation to twenty-two States and Territories^ 
from the overflow of a Government postal route, a river subject to the admiralty and 
maritime jurisdiction of the United States ; from an enemy in whose clutches a single 
State is as powerless as a little child in the deadly clasp of the octopus ; from a river 
which in itself and in its relations to the nation is exceptional. 



VII -DESTRUCTIVE FLOODS. 

The destructive floods of the Mississippi Valley not only sweep over 
the alluvial lands of tbe lower valley between Cairo and the Gulf, but 
frequently occur in tbe valleys of tbe Upper Mississippi, tbe Missouri, 
Ohio, Red, Arkansas, Tennessee, Cumberland, Yazoo, and other rivers 
of tbis comprehensive system, carrying with them enormous destruction 
to crops, roads, railroads, postal-routes, buildings, live-stock, commerce, 
and industries. They are often attended with the loss of life itself. 

FLOODS OF 18GS AND 1S71. 

Mr. Morey, in bis report to the House of Representatives daring the 
Forty-second Congress, said of the floods of 1808 and 1871 : 

The destruction caused by the last two Hoods above named in tbe Ouachita Valley 
is almost incredible. A valley <>f almost unexampled fertility, capable of raising, 
beside corn and stock in great abundance, at least 75,000 bales of cotton, worth, at 
the average price of this seasou, more than $5,000,000, was inundated, plantations 
destroyed, buildings washed away, cattle and swine by the thousand starved or 
drowned, etc. 

FLOOD OF 1874. 

Another flood iu 1874 was still more destructive. Mr. Ellis, in his 
report to the House, in 187G, says of it: 

Tbe loss by the flood of 1674 was $13,000,000. Tbis year, so far as it can be ascer- 
tained, it is $2,000,000. And this makes the total sum *15, 000,000 in actual material 
wealth within three years. 

FLOOD OF 1881. 

The great flood throughout the length and breadth of the Mississippi 
Valley in the spring of 1881 was unusually destructive, the damage 
amountiug to many millions of dollars. As it is impossible to give an 
accurate estimate of the total damage, we will give a few illustrations 
by extracts from the press dispatches published in leading daily papers 
of that time: 

Omaha, April 25. — The flood still continues. The river rose 2 inches last night at 
this point, but it has done no further damage to manufacturing interests on the water 
front. Much lumber in the yards has been removed to higher ground. The Union 
Pacific shops and smelting works, Boyd's packing-house and distillery are still under 
water, and 1,600 men are out of employment. 

At Council Bluffs one-half of the city is under water, and 600 people are homeless. 
All passengers from Eastern trains are transferred by boat to the Union Pacific depot. 

A dispatch from Sioux City announces a fall of 6 inches at that point. 

This morning high winds set in from the north and stirred up the vast body of 
water north of the long embankment leading up to the Union Pacific bridge on the 
east side, aud the high waves dashing against it soon washed out the dirt close up to 
the ties. This was discovered just in time to prevent an accident, and a large force 
of men were put to work piling sand bags along the north side, thus breaking the 
force of the waves and saving the embankment. Two hours more and the water 
would have taken out a section of several hundred feet of the approach to the bridge. 
The transfer of passengers, baggage, and mails is continued by boat at Council Blufl's.. 

27 



"28 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 

There is no material change in affairs here since yesterday. The Union Pacific road 
is running regular trains. 

The village of Waterloo, near Elkhorn River, 25 miles vest of Omaha, is flooded 
"to a depth of 5 feet. 

The overflow, which covers the country for many miles, is doing considerable dam- 
age to farms in Elkhorn Valley. 

Some citizens of Waterloo claimed their town was flooded owing to the Union Pacific 
"Railroad embankment holding the water back, and they threatened to open a channel 
through it, but were prevented by the timely appearance of a sheriff and posse of 
constables from Omaha. Six ice-houses, located in Omaha Bottoms, have been 
wrecked by high water and rendered a total loss. A large wagon-bridge came down 
the river to-day, landing on the east side of the smelting works. 

Hannibal, Mo., April 25. — The Sny levee broke at 3 o'clock this morning, at a point 
about a mile and a half above East Hannibal. The crevasse is 130 feet wide, and the 
water is still cutting both below and above the break. Near East Hannibal there 
are several weak points liable to go at any moment. The river is 19 feet and 1 inch 
above low-water mark, and is still rising, but very slowly. 

Trains from Quincy to Hannibal, via the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, 
are abandoned, the track between Fall Creek and East Hannibal inside the levee 
being under water. It is estimated that 30,000 acres of fall wheat had been sown in- 
side the levee, all of which is now a total loss. There are nearer 10,000 acres, the 
yield of which heretofore had averaged 30 bushels to the acre. This season it stood 
finer than ever. The loss on wheat alone is placed at $1,000,000. The river is still 
slowly rising, and has now nearly reached the highest point of last year. 

Saint Louis, April 25. — The river is rising and rapidly approaching the danger line. 
A rise of another foot and the water will submerge some of the low lands in the north- 
ern part of the city, and inundate part of the bottoms on the Illinois side of the river. 
Much apprehension is felt for property on both sides of the river, and measures are 
being taken to protect it. Old steam-boat men are predicting a flood of unusual 
magnitude, and say that if the present warm weather continues, and particularly if 
there is much rain-fall in the north, a freshet equal to that of 1844 will probably 
follow. 

Bismarck, April 25. — One mile of track and thirty pile-bridges washed away consti- 
tute the extent of damages on the Northern Pacific extension. Night and day forces 
are at work repairing, and trains to the end of the track are promised in a few days. 

Kansas City, April 25. — The levee which was built to protect the town of Harlem 
and the broad bottom lands opposite the city from overflowing gave way on Saturday 
night, and a strong current, 10 feet deep, is now rnnning at the rate of 5 or 6 miles an 
hour over the tracks of the Hannibal and Saint Joseph Council Bluffs, Chicago, Rock 
Island and Pacific, and Wabash roads. For nearly a mile all these tracks are supposed 
to be washed out. The levee gave way about 10 o'clock at night. The water is over- 
flowing a large number of farms to the depth of from 4 to 6 feet. 

Saint Paul, Minn., April 25. — A special from Fergus Falls says the upper country is 
an unbroken sheet of water, beginning at a point about 25 miles below Saint Vincent 
and extending this way to the vicinity of Crookston. Twenty-five miles south of Ste- 
venson the water has swept away the track of the Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Man- 
itoba Railroad, and all railroad travel is suspended. 

Saint Paul, Minn., April 27. — The flood at Saint Paul, caused by the coming down 
of high water in the Minnesota River, continues. The water has now reached 18 feet 
in the channel — 3 feet higher than during the June rise of last year, and the highest 
point reached since the great flood of 1867. There is to-day scarcely a foot of uncovered 
land in the entire country west of Saint Paul, flat lands, over which the waters are not 
now running riot. Old residents there affirm that although they have frequently seen 
the water cover the lowlands, they have never known the current so strong as to sweep 
•over them with such overwhelming velocity as it is doing to-day. The current carried 
away the bank on which Fifth street is built this morning, and there is only a single 
roa i remaining uncovered between river and bluff. Avisittothe scene to-day found 
hundreds of houses isolated by water and the occupants busy moving. The sides of 
fhe raised embankment were filled in many places with all manner of household effects, 
which had been brought in boats from the inundated residences, and around which 
were the owners watching and guarding the same while awaiting the arrival of vehi- 
cles to transport the goods to some place of safety. 

Omaha, Nebr., April 27. — The river has fallen 10 inches here. A further fall of 18 
inches is reported at Sioux City. Information having been received at Nebraska City 
that many people living on the river north of that city were in great peril, one of the 
ferry-boats started out yesterday and rescued nearly 200 men, women, and children, 
some of whom had been* without food two or three days, and were suffering extremely 
from hunger. These people were lodged in the opera house, the city hall, churches, 
and other public buildings. * * * 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 29> 

East Nebraska, ou the Iowa side of the river, is entirely flooded, aud all the inhab- 
itants have been compelled to abandon their homes and seek refuge in Nebraska City- 
proper. Thousands of people along the river bottoms in Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, 
and Kansas are homeless aud destitute. Passengers, mail, and baggage trains ar- 
rived here same as the last few days, only did it more rapidly than heretofore. It 
will be at least one week before the railroads get into the same shape as before the- 
flood. 

Saint Joseph Mo., April 27. — The river at this point is 22 feet 6 inches above low- 
water mark and rising slowly. Mauy families have been rescued from their inun- 
dated houses in the bottom lands during the day, generally in destitute circumstances. 
All the available flat-boats have been in use removing people and stock. An old man 
and bis wife, 76 to 80 years of age, were to-day rescued from the Elmwood bottom, 
where they were living in a small one-story house, having been two or three days 
surrounded by the swift current, a mile from land, and the water 2 feet deep in the 
house. * * * 

Atchison, Kans., April 27. — Contrary to expectations, the river has continued to rise 
steadily during the past tw T euty-four hours, and is now 22 feet 4 inches above low- 
water mark and at least 20 inches above the level of the great flood of 1844. The 
Missouri Pacific road continues to afford the only connection with the East, and it 
has to send its passengers aud mails around by way of Topeka. 

Chicago, April 20. — The total loss of property by the flood on the Missouri River 
and its tributaries between Sioux City and Bismarck is estimated at $2,500,000. 
Below Sioux City, including the damage done at Omaha, Council Bluffs, Kansas 
City, and the great overflow on both sides of the Missouri between these cities and. 
Saint Louis, the amount of loss is computed at $1,500,000. 

FLOOD OF 1882. 

Iii the spring of 1882 another destructive flood spread over the Lower 
Mississippi Valley. Its damage in the States of Mississippi and Arkan- 
sas was described in the following debate in the United States Senate, 
February 23, 1882 : 

Mr. Geokgk. Mr. President, I should like to be indulged in making a remark or 
two explanatory of the magnitude of the disaster referred to in the joint resolution. 

The district overflowed trom the breaking of the levee embraces all the Mississippi 
Delta between Memphis and Vicksburg, about 15 miles in length and about 40 miles 
in breadth. All of it is either now under water or will be in a short time. I desire 
also to state, for the information of the Senate, that four-fifths of the population 
which inhabit that district is composed of colored laborers, who have not the means- 
of support during the time when this overflow will necessarily interrupt labor. 

Mr. Ingalls. What is the estimated number of laborers who have been rendered 
destitute by this inundation T 

Mr. Geokgk. They inhabit a district about 150 miles long by about 40 wide. I sup- 
pose there must be from 50,000 to 75,000 inhabitants in that district. 

Mr. Teller. What proportion of them will be rendered destitute ? 

Mr. George. Four-fifths. I desire also to state, for the information of Senators who 
are not familiar with the length or duration of an overflow in the Mississippi bot- 
toms, that it is not an affair of a day or a week. The overflows in that section of the 
Mississippi bottoms generally continue from four to six weeks before there is a sub- 
sidence of the waters, aud during all that time there is a total suspension of all 
labor; the water gets all over the whole country. 

1 have confined my statement to the destitution in Mississippi. There are contigu- 
ous districts on the western bank of the Mississippi River, in the State of Arkansas, 
that suffer from the same overflow. The Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Garland] will 
make a statement upon that subject. 

I shall ask to have the joint resolution referred to the Committee on the Improve- 
ment of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, in the hope that that committee may 
act upon it with promptness, as the matter will not admit of delay. 

Mr. Garland. The information that the Senator from Mississippi gives in refereuco 
to his own State applies exactly to the State of Arkansas, which is in front of the over- 
flowed Mississippi River. The intelligence that I receive from that portion of the State 
of Arkansas through telegrams, letters, and newspapers represents the destruction 
there as widespread aud as absolutely appalling and unprecedented. The overflow 
has taken barns and granaries, and has swept away the last stock the farmers and 
planters of that country owned and had to live upon. 

I am not prepared in my own mind to say just exactly what relief or what measure 
of relief Congress can or should afford, but certainly there is now a just demand for 
relief, if it is in the power of Congress to grant it. I hope the joint resolution will. 



30 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES, 

be referred to the committee indicated by the Senator from Mississippi, and that that 
committee may see proper to give it early consideration and report some measure for 
the relief of those suffering people. 

Mr. Hampton. I just came into the Senate when the joint resolution was sent to 
the Clerk's desk and read, and, as I am very familiar with that section of country, 
having been there a great deal, I wish to make a statement in regard to it. 

The area of land which will be overflowed if the river rises as high as it has done 
formerly v» ill cover the richest portion of the Mississippi Valley on the Arkansas side 
and on the Mississippi side. I am more familiar with it on the Mississippi side than 
on the Arkansas side ; but it will cover the most productive and finest cotton-grow- 
ing territory in the whole State. I have known the river to be at that point some- 
times nearly 150 miles wide, for it covers from the Yazoo hills on the one side to the 
Arkansas bluffs on the other, and in that whole section of country, if the river is as 
high as these dispatches say it is, there will hardly be any land at all above overflow. 
There are only a few spots in that great Mississippi bottom which are above over- 
flow, and the destruction not only of stock, but of the incoming crop, will be so great 
that I have no hesitation in saying that the dispatches from the governor of Missis- 
sippi give hut a faint idea of the destitution and starvation that will follow there. 

My friend from Mississippi thinks that there are 75,000 people in this area covered. 
I think he has underestimated the number very much. 

Mr. George. I spoke of the Mississippi side. 

Mr. Hampton. On the Mississippi side I think the numbers would be very much 
larger than that. Nearly the whole of those people are colored people ; they rent 
the land and the loss will fall upon them. They have made no provisions at all for 
immediate sustenance, and unless some aid can be given promptly, I have no ques- 
tion that there will be starvation and infinite suffering in that whole country. 

FLOOD OF 1883. 

In the spring of 1883 an unusually destructive flood in the Ohio 
Kiver Valley submerged a large portion of the city of Cincinnati, which 
was very forcibly described in the following dispatch from Murat Hal- 
stead, February 16. 1883: 

The loss of life has not been very great, but the destruction of household property 
is enormous, and clothing, sheltering, and feeding the poor who have fled from their 
homes will strain all resources. The care of property in the submerged district is a 
great task, and our military companies are out at night patrolling the streets. The 
school-houses are crowded with fugitives. The coal supply of the city is under water. 
The water- works are overwhelmed. The gas-works are submerged. Our condition is 
in many respects critical, but nothing but a sudden and immense rain-fall beyond all 
example can prevent onr relief by the fall of the river. There are remarkable coin- 
cidences between this monstrous rise in the Ohio and the December overflows of the 
Rhine and Danube. The parallel between the Rhine especially and the Ohio in the 
origin, progress, extent, and duration of the floods is very striking, and the corre- 
spondence in the two cases may be traced also in the intelligent compassion and re- 
) markable liberality with which the sufferings of those made homeless, whether on the 
Rhine or the Ohio, were regarded and relieved by the enlightened and the benevolent. 

The above are but illustrations of the frequent and wholesale destruc- 
tion and desolation caused by the floods throughout the length and 
breadth of the great valley. But they are sufficient to show that these 
floods pay no attention to State lines and that they are national in ex- 
tent and magnitude. 



VIII.— NATIONAL FEATURES. 

NATIONAL IN EXTENT. 

A river system in which twenty-one States and Territories have a di- 
rect business interest, and nearly all others an indirect interest ; which 
intersects the great productive center of the continent, and by means 
of cheap transportation brings the producer and consumer into easy 
communication ; which supplies a connecting link between internal and 
international commerce, is something more than sectional — it is em- 
phatically national. The navigable portions alone of the Mississippi 
and tributaries are distributed among the States substantially as follows : 



Arkansas .. 
Missouri . . . 
Louisiana . 
Mississippi 
Montana. - . 

Dakota 

Illinois 

Tennessee . 
Kentucky. 

Indiana 

Iowa 



Miles. 



Indian Territory 

Minnesota 

Ohio 

Wisconsin 

Texas 

Nebraska 

\\ : 'St \ 1 1 _ 1 11 1 t . . 

Pennsylvania . . . 

Kansas 

Alabama 



Miles. 



720 
660 
550 
520 

440 
400 
390 

250 
240 
200 



They also supply facilities for inland inter-communication by water 
between the following cities : 



Saint Paul, Minn. 
Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Louisville, Ky. 
Omaha, Nebr. 
Peoria, 111. 
Vicksburg, Miss. 
La Ciosse, Wis. 
Wheeling, W. Va. 



Nashville, Tenu. 
Little Rock, Ark. 
Decatur, Ala. 
Cairo, 111. 
New Orleans, La. 
Saint Louis. Mo. 
Kansas City, Mo. 
Keokuk, Iowa. 
Knoxville, Tenn. 



Memphis, Tenn. 
Minneapolis, Minn. 
Shreveporf, La. 
Sioux City, Iowa. 
Qnincy, 111. 
Parkersburgh, W. Va. 
Dubuque, Iowa. 
Jefferson City, Mo. 



And several hundred other cities and important commercial towns scat- 
tered, as they are, over different sections of a great and broad country. 

If to these rivers we add the existing supplements, we find that they 
supply facilities for inland water inter-communication between twenty- 
five States and Territories. 

Adding the projected or proposed supplements above described, they 
will supply the facilities for twenty-nine States and Territories. 

And adding to the above other States and Territories which rest upon 
the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, we find that the .Mississippi and tribu- 
taries, with existing and proposed supplements, and the oceans on the 
east and west, will permit water inter-communication between forty-one 
States and Territories, or all but five of the total forty-six States and 
Territories of the entire Union. 

31 



32 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 

NATIONAL IN LAW. 

This river system is also national in law. The doctrine as declared 
by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of the Daniel 
Ball, 10 Wallace, 557, is as follows : 

Those rivers must be regarded as public navigable rivers in law which are navigable 
in fact. And they are navigable in fact when they are used, or are susceptible of le- 
ing used, in their ordinary condition, as higbways for commerce, over which trade 
and travel are, or may be, conducted in the customary modes of trade and travel on 
water. And they constitute navigable waters of the United States, within the mean- 
ing of the acts of Congress, in contradistinction from the navigable waters of the 
States, when they form in their ordinary condition, by themselves or by uniting 
with other waters, a continued highway over which commerce is, or may be, carried 
on with other States or foreign countries in the customary modes in which such com- 
merce is conducted by water. 

NATIONAL IN BENEFITS. 

In its benefits, also, this net-work of water-ways is national. The 
consumer of the East and the producer of the West have a common in- 
terest in cheap transportation and cheap food. The recognition of this 
principle on the floor of the United States Senate should be considered 
by every one who, through wrong information, superficial observation, 
or sectional feeling, imagines that the improvement of the Mississippi 
River is a local movement. We refer to the tribute by Senator Bayard, 
who said in the United States Senate in June, 1880, in speaking of the 
improvements already made at the mouth of the river : 

The results of such a work, if maintained according to present promise and to all 
reasonable hope, are magnificent and incalculable in their benefit, not simply to a 
State but to the entire Union, and not simply to the entire Union, but you may say 
the benefits are world-wide. It is making food cheaper for this world that the Mis- 
sissippi River can perform its great carrying functions to bring the vast crops of prod- 
ucts of the wheat lands, and the granary of this country and of the world, into the 
use of mankind in general. 

NATIONAL IN DAMAGE. 

As shown in a previous chapter the periodical floods of the valley 
are national in the extent and magnitude of their destruction. They 
are also beyond the jurisdiction and control of individual States, as 
was very clearly stated in the following extracts from a speech on this 
subject by Hon. E. W. Eobertson, of Louisiana, in the House of Rep- 
resentatives May 18, 1882 : 

On the west bank of the Mississippi there was built a continuous line of levee ex- 
tending from Louisiana into Arkansas. For about fifteen years past the levee has 
been broken for several miles above and below the boundary line dividing the two 
States. Arkansas, for some reason, is indifferent to repairs at this particular place. 
The result is that the floods which sweep through the gap in Arkansas continue down 
through Louisiana in the rear of her system of levees, thereby nullifying all the 
efforts of the latter State to secure protection. Does any one contend that Louisiana 
has jurisdiction over Arkansas ? The two States can not even make a binding agree- 
ment on the subject of protection, for the Constitution expressly denies their right 
to enter into treaties between themselves. It is, then, worse than idle to tell us of 
the lower valley to protect ourselves. * * * Can States combine to accomplish 
this protection, "to provide for the common defense and general welfare 1" Not at 
all, for they are expressly prohibited by section 10 of the same article, which says : 
"No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation." 

How, then, can the States of the lower valley agree upon a uniform plan of pro- 
tection from their common enemy, the great and national Mississippi in flood-time ? 
They can not. They are powerless. They are helpless and subject to the mercy of 
the floods. 

They invoke, then, the aid of that Federal power whose fundamental object is the 
protection of its own citizens and its own States. 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS .NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 33 

NATIONAL IN POLITICS. 

The political features of the Mississippi and tributaries are also na- 
tional. If to the Representatives of the people in Congress from the 
sixteen Valley States and Territories were added those from Pennsyl- 
vania, West Virginia, Alabama, and Texas, which States are inter- 
sected by and have an extensive business interest in the navigable 
waters of these rivers, the result would show a very large majority in 
the House of Representatives. But it is unnecessary to urge this point, 
for all sections have a common interest in the great water-ways which, 
intersect the granary of a common country. Instead of being an ele- 
ment of strife and sectional antagonism, the Mississippi is a bond of 
union. In this respect nature has accomplished for the people of the 
great interior what President Washington was so anxious to see accom- 
plished for a similar purpose in another direction by artificial and costly 
means. We refer to his favorite project of uniting, by a canal, the 
Potomac River and a tributary of the t )hio, so as to bind, in commercial 
and political ties, the Mississippi Valley to the Atlantic States. To 
create a similar bond of uniou between the Pacific States and the rest 
of the country Congress, at the close of the late civil war, granted to 
the Union and Central Pacific Railway Companies 20,000,000 acres of 
public lands, and loaned $53,121,632 in bonds. 

Nature has, without cost, bound together the many States of the 
North and South and of the great interior in a perfect net-work of com- 
mercial ties. 

The problem of new and enlarged commercial intercourse and fellow- 
ship between the two sections is not a difficult one, if we look to the 
Mississippi for a solution. This was demonstrated a few years ago by 
the enthusiastic response from both sides of the House of Representa- 
tives to the remarks by Geueral Garfield, closing the debate on the 
Mississippi River Commission bill, with the following liberal sentiment : 

I rejoice in any occasion which enables Representatives from the North and from 
the South to unite in an unpartisan effort to promote a great national interest. [Ap- 
plause.] Such an occasion is good for us both. And when we cau do it without the 
sacrifice of our convictions and can benefit millions of our fellow-citizens, and can 
thereby strengthen the bonds of the Union, we ought to do it with rejoicing ; for in 
doing so we inspire our people with larger and moie generous views, and help to con- 
firm for them and for our children to our la' est generations the indissoluble Union 
and the permauent grandeur of this Republic. I shall vote for this bill. [Applause 
on both sides of the House. J 

OPINIONS OF NATIONAL STATESMEN. 

John C. Calhoun, the strictest of strict constructionists, said of it, in 
1845, in a speech delivered at Memphis : 

The invention of Fulton has, in reality, for all practical purposes, converted the 
Mississippi with all its tributaries into an inland sea. Regarding it as such I am 
prepared to place it on the same footing with the Gulf and Atlautic coasts, the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware bays, and the Lakes in reference to the superintendence of the 
General Government over its navigation. It is manifest that it is far beyond the 
power of individual or separate States to supervise it. 

Vice-President Hendricks, in a speech delivered in 1866, said : 

That river is under the control of the Government for almost every purpose. It is 
a great channel of commerce ; it is the nation's river ; it does not belong to Louisiana, 
it does not belong to Mississippi ; it is the river of all the States. 

General Garfield, while in the House of Representatives, said, iu sup- 
port of the bill creating the Mississippi River Commission: 

I believe that one of the grandest of our material and national interests, one that 
is national iu the largest material sense of that word, is the Mississippi River and its 
7204: 3 



34 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTAEIES. 

navigable tributaries. It is the most gigantic single natural feature of our conti- 
nent, far transcending the glory of the ancient Nile or of any other river on the 
earth. The statesmanship of America must grapple the problem of this mighty 
stream. It is too vast for any State to handle ; too much for any authority less than 
that of tbe nation itself to manage. And I believe the time -will come when the 
liberal-minded statesmanship of this country will devise a wise and comprehensive 
system that will harness the powers of this great river to the material interests of 
America, so that not only all the people who live on its banks and the bauks of its 
confluents, but all the citizens of the Eepublic, whether dwellers in the central val- 
ley or on the slope of either ocean, will recognize the importance of preserving and 
perfecting this great natural and material bond of national union between the North 
and South, a bond to be so strengthened by commerce and intercourse that it can 
never be severed. [Applause.] 

In his letter of July 10, 1880, accepting the nomination for the Pres- 
idency, General Garfield further said: 

The Mississippi River, with its great tributaries, is of such vital importance to so 
many millions of people that the safety of its navigation requires exceptioual consid- 
eration. In order to secure to the nation the control of all is waters, President 
Jefferson negotiated the purchase of a vast territory extending from the Gulf of 
Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. 

The wisdom of Congress should be invoked to devise some plan by which the great 
river shall cease to be a terror to those who dwell upon its banks, and by which its 
shipping may safely carry the industrial products of twenty-five millions of people. 

In his annual message to Congress in 1880 President Hayes said : 

A comprehensive improvement of the Mississippi and its tributaries is a matter of 
transcendent importance. These great water-ways comprise a system of inlaud trans- 
portation spread like net-work over a large portion of the United States, and navigable 
to the extent of many thousands of miles. Producers and consumers alike have a com- 
mon interest in such unequaled facilities for cheap transportation. Geographically, 
commercially, and politically, they are the strongest tie between the various sections 
of the country. These channels of communication and interchange are the property 
of the nation. Its jurisdiction is paramount over their waters, and the plainest prin- 
ciples of public interest require their intelligent and careful supervision, with a view 
to their protection, improvement, and the enhancement of their usefulness. 

President Cleveland, in a speech delivered at Memphis, Tenn., Oc- 
tober 15, 1887, said : 

There flows past your city our nation's great river, which you rightly regard as a 
most important factor in your present and future welfare, and which I believe is uni- 
versally recognized as a proper object of governmental protection and improvement. 
To Memphis and to every other city on its banks the improvement of this vast high- 
way of commerce is so essential that they should be interested in having this and 
other proper work of the same description considered upon their merits, and freed 
from schemes sometimes questionable in their character and often extravagant in 
their demands. 




7204 face p. 34 



IX.-LNTERNATIONAL FEATURES. 

AMERICAN COUNTRIES AT THE SOUTH. 

The Lower Mississippi is the trunk line of the 16,090 miles of navi- 
gable -waterways of this great river system. After intersecting or bor- 
dering twenty-one States and Territories of the great interior it con- 
verges and terminates at the Gulf of Mexico. Facing its mouth there 
are on the continent south of the United States fifteen Spanish-Ameri- 
can Republics, the Portuguese-American Empire of Brazil, and four 
European colonies, which have a total population of 45,000,000 consum- 
ers and an area of 8,000,000 square miles, or more than double that of 
the United States. 

Also, facing its mouth are the various West India Islands, with an 
area of about 100,000 square miles and a population of about 4,000,000 
souls. 

The names and ownership of the forty principal West India Islands 
ami the several countries on the continent are, in detail, as follows: 

Spanish West Indies: Cuba, Porto Rico, and Isle of Piues. 

British West Indies : Jamaica, Bahamas, Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vin- 
cent, St. Lucia, Aujigua, Barbuda, St. Christopher, Caymans, Virgin 
Islands, Tobago, Grenadines, Barbadoes, Dominica, Moutserrat, Nevis 
and Rodonda, and Anguilla. 

French West Indies : Martinique, Desirade, Les Saintes, Guadeloupe, 
and Marie Galante. 

Dutch West Indies : St. Martin, Saba, Oruba, St. Eustatius, Curacoa, 
and Buen Ayre. 

Danish West Indies: St. Thomas. Santa Cruz, and St. John. 

Swedish West Indies: St. Bartholomew. 

Venezuelan West Indies: Marguerite, Les Siete Hermanos, and Tor- 
tuga. 

Independent West Indies: Hayti and San Domingo. 

Central American republics: Guatemala, San Salvador, Costa Rica, 
Honduras, and Nicaragua. 

Central American colony : British Honduras. 

Mexican Republic : Comprising twenty-seven states, one territory, 
and a federal district. 

South American republics: United States of Colombia, Chili, Argen- 
tine Republic, Ecuador, Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Para- 
guay. 

South American Empire: Brazil. 

South American colonies: British Guiana, French Guiana, and Dutch 
Guiana. 

In view of this colossal showing one would naturally expect to find a 
huge portion of the foreign commerce of the United States to be with 
the neighboring sister American nations. 

What are the facts t 

35 




' 20 ^ face p. 36 



36 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES 



OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE FIRST CENTURY. 

The foreign commerce of the United States during the first century 
of its existence was mainly with Europe. The course of trade at the 
end of one hundred years is as follows : 

Per cent. 

Exports to Europe and adjacent countries, on the east. , 81 

Exports to American countries, on the south 10 

Exports to British America, on the north 5 

Exports to Pacific countries, on the west 4 

The one-sided nature of our commerce may be seen by a glance at 
the accompanying diagram illustrating the general course of steam- ship 
lines. 

Our exports are also unsymmetrical in quality, 74 per cent, being the 
product of agriculture and only 15 per cent, the products of manufact- 
ure. 

Of our total annual manufactures, which during the census year end- 
ing 1880 were $5,369,579, 19L in value, but 2 per cent, finds foreign 
markets. This is indeed an astonishing state of affairs, a defect in our 
commercial relations with the outside world, which must be cured, a 
weak spot which must be built up and strengthened. 

The annual foreign commerce of the various American countries south 
of the United States during the last attainable year were, accordiug to 
a recent report by Secretary Frelinghuysen, in response to a Senate 
resolution of inquiry, as follows : 



Mexico 

Central America 

British Honduras 

United States of Colombia. 

Venezuela 

British Guiana 

French Guiana 

Dutch Guiana 

Brazil 

Uruguay 

Argentine Republic 

Chili 

Bolivia 

Peru , 

Ecuador 

Spanish West Indies 

Hayti and San Domingo 



Total imports 
of merchandise. 



Total 



$42, 
10, 
1, 
23, 
10, 
10, 
1, 
], 
79, 
17, 
80, 
53, 



579, 000 
000, 000 
164, 000 
000, 000 
859, (100 
000, 000 
600, 000 
400, 000 
169, 000 
919, 000 
436. 000 
304, 000 
900, 000 
000, 000 
000. 000 
805, 000 
724, 000 



420, 859, 000 



Imports from 
United States. 



$12, 704, 000 

3, 178, 000 

430, 000 

6, 380, 000 

2, 427, 000 

1, 8H4, 000 

102, 000 

320, 000 

8, 695, 000 

1, 368, 000 

5, 075, 000 

3, 267, 000 



1,071,000 

629, 000 

13, 135, 000 

4, 054, 000 



64, 090, 000 



In brief, we supply but 15 per cent, of the demand, or about one- 
seventh part. 

It is easy to understand why we control so insignificant a portion of 
this valuable trade when we examine the record of our exports to those 
countries from New Orleans, which port represents the principal south- 
ern outlet of the Mississippi Valley. The value of exports of domestic 
merchandise from New Orleans to the various and neighboring Amer- 
ican countries and islands on the south was, during the fiscal year end- 
ing June 30, 1886, as follows: 



i 



THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 37 



From New Orleans to- 



Argentine Republic 

Brazil 

Costa Rica 

Guatemala , 

Honduras 

Nicaragua 

San Salvador 

Chili 

Danish West Indies 
French West Indies . 

French Guiana 

British West Indies . 

British Guiana 

British Honduras 



Amount. 



$7, 215 



32, 251 
40, 992 
150, 127 
63,841 



9,776 
152,372 



From New Orleans to— 



Hayti 

Mexico 

Dutch West Indies 

Dutcu Guiana 

Peru 

San Domingo 

Cuba 

Porto Rico 

United States of Colombia. 

Uruguay 

Venezuela 



Total 



Amount. 



$562, 572 



29, 618 
14,' 896 



1, 063, 660 



Iu other words, the principal port on the southern coast of the United 
States is uot doing its duty in supplying the Spanish ami Portuguese 
American markets with our surplus products and manufactures. Nat- 
ure has doue everything to stimulate trade in this direction, but for 
some unaccountable reason it has been neglected by the United States. 

Another astonishing defect in our foreigu trade relations may be seen 
by reference to the total commerce of the various countries surrounding 
the Pacific Ocean and facing the west coast of the United States. 

During a recent year their total annual imports and the share of the 
same supplied by the United States were as follows : 



Total 
imports from 
all nations. 



Japan 

China 

Hon g- Kong 

Philippine Islands 

Dutch India 

Siam 

Straits Settlements 

Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania 

Total 



$29, 

112, 

115, 

18, 

55, 

6, 

73, 

118, 



296, 000 
632, 000 
834, 000 
032, 000 
4X5, 000 
500, 000 
174,000 
600, 000 



529, 553, 000 



Of this total demand we supplied but $20,497,000 in value, or less 
than 4 per cent. 

The above is the result of our foreign commerce during the first cent- 
ury of the Kepublic. What now is the outlook for the future? 



OUR FOREIGN COMMERCE OF THE SECOND CENTURY. 

A question of transcendent importance to the United States to-day 
is the development of new foreign markets for our surplus manufact- 
ures. It is useless to look to Europe for adequate outlets, for it is 
well supplied with manufactures of its own and has a surplus for export. 
We must rather look to the open, uusupplied, and inviting trade fields 
of Spanish and Portuguese America. 

The question arises, how may these open and profitable fields be im- 
proved? Nature and common sense, the producer and consumer, all 
demand that the neighboring Mississippi Valley, with its great water- 
ways, terminating at the Gulf; and with its surplus grain and provis- 
ions, take the lead in this new commercial movement. Direct and cheap 



38 THE MISSISSIPPI AND ITS NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES. 

transportation by way of the river and Gulf in place of indirect ship- 
ments from the valley up and down the Alleghanies and then around 
and back again to the Indies, Mexico, and South and Central America, 
is the true solution of this commercial problem. New York is chiefly 
occupied with European trade, but the port at the mouth of the Mis- 
sissippi has the time as well as the favorable situation to make a success 
of American foreign commerce. It devolves upon her and the other 
trade centers of the valley to take the lead. The material interests of 
the entire country require it. 

A few weeks before his assassination President Garfield said in an 
address to the graduating class at Annapolis : "The Pacific is yet to 
be opeuecl, and you gentlemen will be tbe ones to scout it for us." The 
significance of this remark will be appreciated by reference to the pre- 
ceding trade statistics, and the diagram showing the Isthmian barrier 
which now stands in the pathway of direct water communication be- 
tween the great Mississippi Valley and the Pacific. 

The opening of the Isthmus of Tehuautepec will shorten the water 
route between the mouth of the Mississippi and Hong-Kong 10,502 
miles each way, or 21,004 miles on the - round voyage, for steamers be- 
tween those two ports must now go around distant Cape Horn. In 
brief, the piercing of this isthmus for the transit of ships will place 
the Mississippi Valley in direct water communication with Australia, 
the countries of the Orient, and the west coast of Central and South. 
America. Then we may expect our due share ot that valuable foreign 
trade of which the United States now controls but about 4 per cent, 
and in which New Orleans has no participation. 

The adequate development of these long-neglected foreign markets of 
the three Americas on the south and of the Oriental countries on the 
west is the great material problem now awaiting solution. 

Theseinviting trade fields constitute what may appropriately be termed 
our foreign commerce of the second century, and should, without further 
delay, be occupied with our surplus products and manufactures. 

In his memorable tribute to America in 1878 Gladstone said, in con- 
trasting the commercial future of England and the United States: 

It is she alone who at a coming time can and probably will wrest from ns that com- 
mercial primacy. We have no title; I have no inclination to murmur at the prospect. 
If she acquires itshe will make the acquisition by the right of the strongest ; but in 
this instance the'strongest means the best. She will probably become what we are 
now, tbe head servant in the great household of the world, the employer of all employed, 
because her service will be the most and the ablest. We have no more title against 
her than Venice, or Genoa, or Holland has had against us. 

There is no better way to facilitate the attainment of the " commer- 
cial primacy " here prophesied than by developing the international 
features of the Mississippi Biver and Valley. 



THE MISSISSIPPI 



AND ITS FQfcTY-FOUR 



NAVIGABLE TRIBUTARIES 



A DESCRIPTIVE, COMMERCIAL, AND STATISTICAL REVIEW, 
ILLUSTRATED WITH THREE DIAGRAMS. 



ALEX. 1). ANDERSON, 

Author of "Mexico from the Material Stand-point." 



July 2, 189&— Ordered to bo printed by the United Stated Senalte. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1890. 



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